Together Again?
by Love Reading 3.14
Summary: Two months after they ended their relationship. Kyousuke and Kirino wonder, should they try again? ABANDONED.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Broken Promise

"It's here!" yelled Kirino excitedly as she ran down the stairs. The new eroge that she'd ordered _It's Okay Onii-san_ had arrived! When she picked up the box, she was about to run back up to play it as soon as possible when she remembered something.

Her brother was home. It would be more fun to play it with him and get his reaction than just playing by herself. She opened the door to the living room and saw that he was reading on the couch. "Hey, I got a new eroge! Come and play it with me!" she ordered.

"What?" Kyousuke saw the box in her hands and had an idea of what was in it. "No! Why don't you just play it by yourself?"

"N-no reason," answered Kirino, flustered. "Just come on, and play it with me."

"No," he said firmly and continued reading.

Kirino frowned and decided to play the cute sister card. She walked up to him and pulled his arm away from his book.

He was starting to get really annoyed and stood up to confront her. "What are you-

"Hey," she said while pouting as adorably as she could. Which she saw made him blush and look away. "Come on, it'll be fun. I haven't seen you in a while, I just want to spend some time with my brother." She pulled him up from the couch.

"No," repeated Kyousuke angrily. "I don't want to play those weird games anymore. Especially not with you."

 _Weird?_ Kirino was stunned for a moment. "Fine then!" she yelled. "Get away from me, you pervert!" She let go of his arm and pushed him away.

He nearly lost his balance but managed to stay on his feet after taking a few steps back. "What the hell?!" he shouted. "You're the one who walked up to me, why should I be the one who leaves? And you're a way bigger pervert than I am!"

"Shut up!" Kirino held her box close to her chest and sprinted up to her room. All she'd wanted was to spend some time with him. _Whatever!_ she thought. _I'll play it by myself, I don't need him anyway!_

She turned on her computer and opened up the box. "There you are," she smiled as she saw the cover. It showed a young, dark-haired girl laying on her back on a bed with her arms wide open. The title _It's Okay Onii-san_ was in big letters inside of a speech bubble above her. "Heh heh, you're so cute," Kirino practically drooled over the image.

She put the disc in, but while she waited for it to load, she couldn't but feel upset over what Kyousuke had said. Yes, she knew her hobby was weird. After all, she had hidden it from everybody for a long time. Still, it had hurt when he'd called it weird. He'd always been considerate of her hobby and had gone out of his way to help her if she ever felt guilty about it.

And he'd promised that he wouldn't think any less of her for it too. How could he just break it like that?

Kirino shook her head violently. _Why am I thinking about that? Besides, I shouldn't be so upset. Hmph, as if I care about what he thinks._

After a few moments, she sighed sadly, she couldn't lie to herself. Kyousuke's opinion did matter to her. She still loved him, even if they'd promised to have a normal brother/sister relationship, she wished that she could get closer to him. But she'd had no opportunities for the past month, ever since he'd gone off to college. The only reason he was here right now was that he was just visiting for a few days.

 _No, even before that, he'd been avoiding me_ she realized. Why? Right after they'd ended their relationship, he'd acted like the kind, caring brother that he'd always been. He'd come with her to Akihabara as often as she wanted him to and she'd always been able to depend on him. But then he'd started to spend less and less time with her, saying that he had other things to do. He had never seemed to be around, and when he was it had seemed like he couldn't stay long. Any conversation she'd try to start up with him would just result in him giving one word answers.

In fact, that was the situation right now. Even though he'd arrived last night, he hadn't spoken with her at all. If she didn't count the conversation they'd just had.

"Finally! God, why does it take so long?" asked Kirino as it finished loading. _This was just what I need, a cute little sister eroge to get my mind off of that . . . that idiot._

The main character woke up in his bed to see a young girl next to him. She started to speak. "Good morning, onii-san. I'm here to wake you up, I-I hope you don't mind." She blushed and fidgeted nervously.

"Ohhhh, of course it's okay," answered Kirino. She read the options.

 _Thank her for waking you up._

 _Ask her what time it is._

 _Tell her to leave and that you could have woken up on your own_.

"Well, that's an obvious choice." Kirino clicked on option number one.

"Thanks Saiko," said the main character. "I'm so lucky to have a caring sister like you."

The young girl smiled and blushed even harder. "It's nothing."

Kirino giggled at her cuteness, she could already tell that this game would be great! But after a few minutes, she started thinking of her brother again.

 _Why did he start avoiding me?_ she wondered. _It's not like I did anything wrong, right? And . . . what did he mean when he said that he especially didn't want to play this with me?_ That had been especially hurtful. Did he hate her now?

"I'm, I'm so sorry! I won't bother you anymore!" Saiko started running away with tears in her eyes.

"Crap!" Kirino had no idea what she'd just clicked. She was too worried about what Kyousuke thought of her. She couldn't play this right now. _Hah._ she thought _Me, unable to play such a wonderful eroge. He's the only one that could ever do that to me._

She couldn't bear the thought of him hating her. Sure, she hadn't treated him well for the past couple of years, but they'd gotten past that, hadn't they? It wasn't like she'd started treating him like that again. She'd tried to repay him for all the kindness that he'd shown her and apologize for all those times she'd been cruel to him.

She opened her drawer and grabbed one of the heart shaped photos she and Kyousuke had taken on their very first date. Well, she supposed it hadn't been a real date, it had just been to fool someone else into thinking that she had a boyfriend. Still, she'd been so happy and nervous about it that she'd banged her head on the wall the night before.

She looked at it fondly. She was the only one smiling in it, his expression just showed that she'd dragged him into it. Still . . . she didn't regret it at all. She just wished she could have been more open with her feelings, even though at that point he probably hadn't felt the same way she did. Although, considering the way she'd acted she was a bit surprised that he hadn't realized how badly she wanted him to be her boyfriend. And she was so glad that he'd fallen in love with her.

But now, he might not even love her as a sister anymore.

* * *

Kyousuke put on his shoes and left the house. Seriously, why was Kirino so upset? He'd just said that he didn't want to play eroge with her. Didn't she want to have a normal sibling relationship? If so, he was sure that little sisters didn't ask their brothers to play erotic little sister themed video games.

 _Still, maybe I was a bit too harsh_ he wondered. S _he might have misunderstood what I meant when I said that I "especially" didn't want to play with her._ He thought he'd imagined it, but after he'd said that Kirino's face had shown a hurt expression, although only for a moment.

 _I should probably go apologize to her._ Then he remembered how angry she'd gotten. _On second thought, I'll do so after she's calmed down_ he amended. He didn't want to deal with any more injuries from her.

He continued walking down the street. He had no idea where he was going, he just needed to get out of the house for a bit. Away from Kirino. Her presence was just a bit too much for him, he hadn't seen her in weeks. Although he'd been avoiding her even before then, during the weeks leading up to him moving out for college.

He wished that he had the courage to just treat her like a normal sister again. But he couldn't, he didn't love her the way a brother should. He didn't want to treat her like a sister, he wanted to be her boyfriend again. And if he got too close to her he'd mess up and break their promise. Still, he couldn't avoid her forever. He'd just have to find a way to-

"Kyou-chan?" asked a girl in front of him.

 _Oh no._ He'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. If she hadn't said something, he'd probably have bumped into her while looking off in the distance. Wait, how did she know his name?

He looked over to her. "Manami-san?" Kyousuke took several steps back in surprise. He hadn't seen her since, well, since she and Kirino had fought each other in the park.

Manami wasn't sure how to react to Kyousuke. "Kyou-chan, I-I haven't seen you in a while. How come you're back?"

"Oh, I'm just visiting for a while," answered Kyousuke nervously. "So, um, do you still live at your house? Since the university you're going to is nearby."

"Yeah."

They both stood there awkwardly, both unsure of what to say to each other.

Manami started up the conversation again. "Kyou-chan, do you still feel the same way for Kirino-chan?" she asked, hoping that he'd say no.

"I-I do," he answered uncomfortably.

"I see," she said sadly. "Kyou-chan, let me just tell you, I still think it's wrong."

Kyousuke nodded knowingly. "Well, I didn't really expect any different."

"But . . . but even so, I'll support you," continued Manami. "I've had some time to think, and I realized that the important thing is that being in a relationship with her makes you happy. And I won't get in the way of your happiness, no matter what I think about it."

"Manami . . ." He hadn't expected this, but he was incredibly grateful, he couldn't imagine how she was ignoring her sense of morals to say that.

"I've missed you Kyou-chan!" Manami's voice became more passionate, very different from her usual soft, polite tone. "I love you! Even so, losing you completely is a lot worse than losing you to your sister. So, I'll endure you and Kirino being happy together. Just be friends with me again! At least."

He hugged her tightly and unknowingly made her blush. "Thank you Manami-san, you don't know how much that means to me." He released her. "But you won't have to endure anything, Kirino and I . . . we ended our relationship. A-a lot of what you said at the park was right. She and I can't have a relationship like that even though we love each other. Our parents, friends that are less forgiving or understanding, even people who didn't know us would object."

"Oh . . . I had no idea," said Manami. She did her best to hide her joy, she could tell that it was still a painful subject for him. "So, does that mean we'll be friends again?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course!" he said with a smile. To be honest, he'd missed Manami too. She'd always been by his side for the past ten years and she'd been a truly reliable friend.

"Um, feel free to decline, but, would you like to come to dinner at my house tonight?" asked Manami.

"Well, sure," agreed Kyousuke. "I have to leave in two days anyway, it'll be nice to eat at your house again. Let me just tell my parents." He got out his phone and called his parents, reminding them that they'd get to see him for two more days when his mother was reluctant to the idea.

"Alright, let's go," announced Kyousuke after hanging up.

"Um, well, we still have an hour before it's dinnertime," said Manami. "So, you can just come by then."

"Okay," he replied, he turned to walk back home. But before taking his first step he changed his mind, "Actually, Manami-san, do you mind if I go with you now? We might not see each other again for a while, and you're a really important friend to me. I can help you cook if you want," he suggested.

"I don't mind at all." answered Manami.

As the two walked to her house they talked. Kyousuke revealed that he didn't really have a specific career in mind, but he was studying business in order to make sure his father wouldn't complain about him wasting his higher education. Manami didn't have any specific plans for the future either, although she was interested in art.

When they reached Manami's house, he was greeted by her brother and grandparents. Manami's brother, Iwao, had somehow managed to mess up another visit to the barber, this time he had a Mohawk. Yet he believed he looked like a cool rock star, while Kyousuke wasn't willing to disillusion him again.

Her grandparents still teased them both about their relationship, constantly hinting and at one point outright asking when they were going to get together. Kyousuke deflected them off as jokes, but he realized that for Manami they weren't. It was really awkward, since he knew how she really felt about him. Even so, it was an enjoyable evening, certainly preferable to whatever treatment Kirino would probably have given him.

"Kirino! Dinnertime!" called Kirino's mother from the kitchen.

* * *

"Coming!" Kirino yelled down. She ran down the stairs, Kyousuke certainly wouldn't be able to avoid her when they ate. Their parents usually insisted that they eat together as a family, and they'd be even more insistent since he'd would be leaving soon.

She sat down at the dinner table at her usual spot. Ready to stomp on her brother's foot as soon as he arrived. That wasn't all though, she'd insult him as harshly as her parents would let her. _That's the only reason why I'm excited_ she reasoned. _Not because of him._

But after her parents sat down, they didn't say a word about Kyousuke and started eating their food. Kirino decided to ask, "Hey, where's Kyousuke?"

"He didn't tell you?" asked her mother. "He's eating at a friend's house for dinner tonight."

"Oh," answered Kirino disappointedly.

Her mother continued. "Can you believe it? He returns from college after a month for a few days, and just leaves our family during dinnertime."

"It's not that big of a deal Yoshino," said Kirino's father. "He'll still be here for a couple of days."

His wife sighed, "Well, I suppose so. And I guess it's good that he visits his friends too."

"Hmph, well I think it's a lot better without him," added Kirino. "Honestly, I was worried about how he'd ruin our meal. They've been a lot better off without him."

"You miss him, don't you?" teased Yoshino.

"N-no! Of course not!" replied Kirino immediately with a mortified blush. "Who'd miss an idiot like him anyway?" she murmured.

"Okay, I understand." Her mother said as she winked. Hopefully her daughter would eventually understand that there was no need to hide her feelings about her brother. But even though she suspected that Kirino and Kyousuke's relationship wasn't normal for siblings, she had no idea how they truly felt for each other.

They ate the rest of the meal without any trouble. Yoshino moved the subject of the conversation by asking about how their day was. Although Kirino was still more subdued than usual. This was another reason Yoshino had wanted Kyousuke to eat with them again, ever since he'd left, Kirino had become less cheerful. It pained Yoshino to watch her passionate, hard-working little girl be like that, especially when she tried to hide it.

Still, she hoped that situation would change in the next couple of days. Kyousuke had better get his act together.

* * *

"Man, I really messed up." Kyousuke scolded himself as he walked back home. He'd stayed over at Manami's house for too long. He'd probably get a scolding from his father about being responsible when he got home, he certainly wasn't looking forward to that.

 _It's not like it was my fault though._ He'd practically had to fight off Manami's family. They'd pretty much abandoned any subtlety in their attempts to get him and Manami together, although it wasn't like they'd had much before. Seriously, had Manami's grandfather really found it necessary to try and spill soup on him to get him to stay longer? He'd claimed it had been an accident, but Kyousuke had heard him curse "young people's quick reflexes" under his breath when he'd dodged it by a few centimeters.

Although that had been much better than listening to her younger brother play as many songs as possible on his makeshift guitar in order to delay him. Kyousuke had resorted to pointing out how ridiculous his new hairstyle was in order to stop his playing.

Kyousuke had to admit though, it had still been fun. The definition of a fun night for many of his college friends was going out and drinking. It was a nice change of pace. "I'm such an idiot though." He sighed, amazed by how just making one comment could make him feel so guilty. Just before leaving the door, he'd complimented Manami's cooking and told her that she'd make a good housewife someday.

It had been an offhand comment. In fact, it was something he'd said it plenty of times before during their friendship. Before, she would just blush and say that he shouldn't joke like that. Yet when he'd said it only a few minutes ago, her entire face had turned red and she'd smiled happily before wishing him a good night.

It made him even more guilty thinking about it. _Damn it, I don't want to get her hopes up only to have to reject her again. I just want to be friends with her, just friends._ A possibility hit him. _Does she think that I might love her now because Kirino is out of the picture?_ Oh no. Manami was nice, and he did like her, but only as a friend. The analogy of a grandmother stuck in a teenager's body still held true. That was how he felt about her, regardless of any other girl.

As Kyousuke approached his house, he started to worry less about how to make sure he wouldn't hurt Manami's feelings and more on what he'd say to his dad. He didn't have any good excuses, and lying wasn't an option. His father was very strict about honesty.

He still hadn't found anything that would really lessen his father's wrath when he reached the door. _Well, here goes nothing._ Kyousuke opened it and entered the living room.

His father, Kousaka Daisuke was sitting on an armchair reading a newspaper. "You're an hour later than you said you'd be," he noted calmly.

"Yes, I'm very sorry." Kyousuke bowed his head.

"Why are you late?" asked his father, although he really didn't seem to mind.

"I-I was enjoying being with Manami-san again and didn't keep track of time. Her family also asked me to stay for a bit longer, which I'd agreed to even though I had promised to return earlier," explained Kyousuke. "I'll accept whatever punishment you give me for it."

His father put down his paper and didn't speak for a few seconds. "Just don't do it again," he said sternly before reading again.

"Huh?" asked Kyousuke. "That's it? No punishment?"

"Do you want a punishment?" asked Daisuke.

"No! Not at all! It was just . . . I was expecting worse."

"You're an adult now," his dad replied. "You should be able to learn from your mistakes by now. Besides, you've mostly behaved yourself for the past few years, punishments are no longer necessary."

"Oh, okay then." Kyousuke starting walking to the kitchen.

However, before he reached it his mother opened the door to the living room, revealing that she'd been listening the whole time. "Manami-san, huh?" she asked. "You've always been close with her, haven't you?"

Kyousuke shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"You've developed feelings for her, haven't you? No wonder you stayed so late with her! Oh, I think she'd be a perfect wife for you!"

"No!" argued Kyousuke, mortified at the thought. "I don't think of her that way at all!"

"Really? Then why are you blushing?" asked his mother skeptically.

"Because it's embarrassing, not because I actually do!"

She sighed. "Fine." Seriously, was Kyousuke starting to try and hide his emotions too? "Well, at least my little boy is back. Let me call down your sister so the family is all together again."

 _Great,_ thought Kyousuke sarcastically. He hoped that Kirino wouldn't still be upset over what their argument from earlier. Insulting her hobby hadn't been a good move, even if it had it let him keep his distance from her.

"Kirino! Can you come down for a bit?" called their mother.

After a few moments Kirino answered. "Coming!" When she opened the door, she paused, seeing her brother was there.

"Oh, you're back," she said blankly.

 _Good, it looks like she's calmed down,_ Kyousuke thought with relief. "Yeah," he answered.

"So, do you need something mom?" asked Kirino. She didn't want to stay with that hurtful idiot for any longer than she had to. Although . . . although she was glad that he'd come back.

"The whole family's going to be together tonight!" announced their mother happily. "This is Kyousuke's first visit since he left for college! Come on, haven't you missed your brother?"

"Not really," mumbled Kirino while looking off to the side.

"Sure sure, sit down anyway," ordered their mother. "The both of you. So Kyousuke, tell us how is college life?"

Kyousuke sat as far off from Kirino as he could, just in case she got upset again and decided to take her rage out on him. He told them about the new friends that he'd made, although he did leave out the more irresponsible ones who went drinking and took drugs. Since he knew how his parents would start tirelessly reminding him about avoiding people who were bad influences.

College life was enjoyable. Kyousuke liked most of his classes, and he could act a lot more independently as a college student. It was a lot of fun, although he assured his father that he wasn't just fooling around. He still strove to do well academically and find a career for himself.

It got very awkward when Kyousuke's mom asked him if there were any girls he was interested in. He mentioned a couple of names just to get her off the topic, and made up plans on how he planned to attract them. Luckily, his mom was satisfied with his response and started asking about other aspects of his life. Kyousuke's relief at changing the subject of the conversation had been short-lived though, he couldn't help but notice that Kirino had been troubled when he'd talked about his love life.

After talking about his own life, Kyousuke asked how things were going in theirs. Especially Kirino's. He felt guilty for being relieved when she revealed that she wasn't dating anyone either, or found any guys she liked. She was still very active in her modeling, which was no surprise considering her growing beauty. Kirino was also excelling academically as she had in middle school, and she was one of the fastest in the track team.

Kyousuke whistled after hearing about all of it. "Guess I really can't compare to my amazing little sister."

Kirino ignored his compliment. "Well, it's getting late, I'm going to sleep."

As she left, Kyousuke's parents decided to turn in for the night as well. Kyousuke, however, wanted to stay up for a bit longer. Although he was on a visit to his family, he still had work to catch up on. He decided to go up to his room.

It was mostly bare, since he'd taken most his belongings to college. He took his laptop out of his bag, deciding that he could probably get a good start on his essay for his literature class. After spending a couple of hours on it, he went to bed.

* * *

"Hey, hey, wake up," said a girl's voice impatiently.

 _What the?_ Kyousuke opened his eyes slightly, why was the light in his room on? And who was?

After a moment for his eyes to adjust, he saw who it was on top of him. Kirino. _Who else?_ he wondered.

"What are you doing in my room?" he asked, annoyed. _What time is it?_ He wondered, it was still dark outside.

"I-I need to ask you a few things," answered Kirino in embarrassment.

 _Well, at least she didn't slap me awake this time._ "Can't this wait until morning?"

"It can't," replied Kirino seriously.

He sighed. "Alright, get off of me first."

"No!" she yelled, then blushed. "I mean . . . no, not until you answer."

"Fine then," replied Kyousuke, assuming this was more life counseling. "Hurry up and ask me."

Kirino shifted uncomfortably. "Do-do you-" she hesitated in embarrassment. _Why can't I just say it?!_ It hadn't been this hard to do so in her head, why was it was so much harder in real life? But she still had to get it out. "Do you still . . . love me?"

Kyousuke hoped she didn't mean what he was thought. He went for the safe answer. "Of course, we're family, and-

"Not like that!" interrupted Kirino and looked him in the eyes. "Forget about our promise! Do you still _love_ me?"

Kyousuke saw how nervous and desperate she was. _Kirino, why are you asking me this?_ he wondered. "I love you," he said.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes Kirino," he promised. "Even though we promised to be normal siblings again, I . . ."

Kirino didn't let him finish speaking, instead she kissed him happily.

Kyousuke panicked. _What in the world is she doing?!_ Their promise! Even if she wouldn't enforce it, he had to at least. He moved his arms up, but instead of pushing her off as he'd first intended to, he pulled her closer. _Damn it,_ he cursed himself. It had been so long since he'd touched a girl this way, and this was _Kirino._ His sister, the one he was in love with. Her body was so soft, and she smelled so wonderful. Her lips were on his own, begging for more. It was impossible to deny her.

Finally, they separated to regain their breath.

"K-Kirino!" Kyousuke was horrified by what they'd just done.

"Don't act like you didn't like it," said Kirino with a smile. She hugged his chest. "I'm so happy."

He didn't know what to say. What were they going to do? He wasn't sure if a normal sibling relationship was possible anymore. _As if it wasn't hard enough to keep it that way before_ thought Kyousuke.

"Is-is that all you needed to know?" Kyousuke hoped. The way she was lying on top of him was so nice, it was hard to stop himself from doing anything he would regret.

"What? Trying to get rid of me?" she asked in an irritated voice.

"No, of course not," he lied. That was the sister he knew: the proud, bossy, condescending sibling. Not the vulnerable, emotional girl she'd been just a second ago.

"Hmph. Actually, since that's settled, I have a few more questions," added Kirino. She pointed at him. "First, why the hell have you been avoiding me?!"

"A-avoiding you? I have no idea what you're talking about," answered Kyousuke nervously.

Kirino wasn't in the mood for this. "Don't play dumb. When you came back yesterday, you hardly even spoke to me. And today . . . today you said that my eroge were weird and that you especially didn't want to play them with _me_ ," she added hurtfully.

"Look, I'm sorry about saying your hobby was weird," answered Kyousuke apologetically. "I didn't mean it. And even if I had, I had no right to make fun of it."

"That better be true," said Kirino angrily. Hiding how touched she was by his apology. "Don't think that's enough. Explain the rest. Now." she ordered threateningly.

"Okay, okay." Kyousuke wasn't sure how to begin. "I've been avoid you because . . . because . . . I don't want to break our promise." Although they'd already broken it only moments ago.

"Huh? What kind of excuse is that?!"

"It's just . . . it's hard to pretend that you're just my little sister, that I don't feel the way I do," replied Kyousuke. "Whenever I'm with you, I want to show how much I love you and I have to hold myself back from- He stopped himself, embarrassed to go on further.

"From what?" asked Kirino softly.

"Look, it doesn't matter," Kyousuke said, regretting saying anything at all. "Just forget it, everything. In the morning, we'll be normal siblings again, okay? I won't avoid you anymore, I'll stop being a coward and get over my feelings. So please, go back to your room."

Kirino didn't move an inch. "Kyousuke, if it really is that hard for you. Do want to try again?"

For a moment, Kyousuke was about to say yes. Being truthful and loving with her again, he wanted to so badly. But . . . it wouldn't work out. Their relationship was taboo; society would condemn them if anybody else knew. _I should have just tried to be happy with the time I already had with her_ he thought, angry with himself for complicating everything. "No."

"Why?" asked Kirino, unexpectedly devastated by his answer.

"We were right to decide to end our relationship when we did," he said. "You knew it wouldn't work, how would we explain this to our parents? Or people like Manami-san?"

"Since when did that ever matter to you? What happened to my stupid brother who said that what they thought wasn't important? That he'd fight the rules because he had something more important?"

"Kirino . . . our promise-

"Forget about our promise!" Kirino cried out. "Look, we can try again. I don't want to pretend I don't love you either!" She hugged him tightly, refusing to let go until he agreed. "Hey, we can keep it a secret this time. Just between the two of us, please," she begged.

"Is that really what you want? To have to hide our relationship from everyone?"

"It won't matter as long as I can be with you," answered Kirino.

"Even if we won't get to see each other often?" Kyousuke did have to go back to college in a couple of days after all. At most, he could visit once or twice a month.

"I'll wait."

Kyousuke was about to come up with another reason why they shouldn't do it but stopped after seeing her expression. "You really are determined to do this, huh?"

She nodded in response.

He smiled happily. "Makes me wonder what I did to deserve this."

"You didn't do anything, you idiot," lied Kirino. She was extremely grateful for everything he'd done, for all those times he'd helped her. "You should be glad that I'm the one with the courage to try again," she said. "So?"

After a few seconds, Kyousuke decided. "Alright, we'll try again."

"Really?" asked Kirino excitedly.

"Really." He patted her head again. "Now go back to your room, you have school tomorrow don't you?"

"Okay." Kirino kissed him on the cheek and got off his bed. "Good night." She walked back to her room and collapsed on the bed. _I can't believe I actually did that!_ she thought to herself. She'd been so nervous confronting him again. She hadn't planned to start their relationship again, but after hearing Kyousuke she realized that was what she really wanted.

After a few moments, Kirino realized she couldn't sleep. She giggled, _It's no good, I'm too happy._ They'd be in a relationship again! He wouldn't avoid her anymore to try to keep that annoying promise!

As she lay in bed, she thought of things they could do now that they were a couple again. They'd have to be careful on any dates they went on, but who cared? It would be worth it.

Kyousuke, on the other hand, had trouble sleeping for a different reason. He did want that relationship with her again, and he would fight for it. But the consequences of doing so would be severe, they'd be shunned by their loved ones who wouldn't accept their relationship. He wouldn't mind all that as long as he was with her, but he knew Kirino would take it more harshly. Her career as a model would be in jeopardy, not to mention her relationships with her friends. Especially Ayase, he shuddered as he imagined what she'd do to him if she found out he'd rejected her for his sister.

He sighed. _Sorry Kirino, but your stupid older brother might not be able to make this work._


	2. Chapter 2: Could this Work?

Chapter 2: Could this Work?

"Kirino, Kyousuke," called their mother from the kitchen. "Get down here for breakfast already."

Hearing that, Kyousuke went down the stairs and sat at the table where he usually did. "Hey mom, sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh . . . how come?" asked his mother.

"Um, nothing, just a bad dream," answered Kyousuke. _'_

 _If only it were,'_ he real reason he hadn't been able to sleep was because he was conflicted. He was happy that he was in a relationship with Kirino again, but he had the feeling that it wouldn't work. That it could end much more painfully for the both of them this time.

' _Ugh! Why couldn't I have just acted naturally around her?'_ Kyousuke asked himself. _'If I had, then she wouldn't have gotten upset over our lack of closeness.'_

While Kyousuke pondered about what he should have done, Kirino walked in. She was wearing the gray school uniform of Kyousuke's old high school, which she now attended.

' _Wow, she looks really cute in that,'_ he thought. Although he looked away immediately and tried to act normal.

Kyousuke enjoyed their breakfast. It was the first one he'd had with his family in a while, since he'd arrived in the afternoon the night before. He'd really missed them, especially Kirino. She was so amazing with how she juggled her good grades, modeling job, and athletic career all at the same time. Everything about her was so outstanding it made him feel that, as a normal guy, he wasn't worthy of her.

A few moments later, he guessed that he would have to add her acting skills to the list too, since she gave no hint of how she felt about him in front of their parents. All that showed was her usual, bright cheerful mood.

Their mother noticed something different though. Kirino was happier than she'd been for a while. Even if she was trying to hide it, Yoshino could see that Kyousuke was the reason why her mood had improved.

"Thanks for the meal," said Kyousuke as he always did. He put his plate away and walked back up toward his room. As he reached the last step of the stairs, someone called out to him.

"Hey!" Kirino stood at the base of the stairs, looking up at him.

"Huh? What?"

"Walk me to school," she ordered. "I need to talk with you."

He hesitated at first. She wasn't planning on doing anything that would make other people suspicious, was she? "F-fine then." He went down the stairs and out the door with her. Once they were on the street, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards with her.

Kyousuke blushed, he hadn't held Kirino's hand in a while. It was so warm and soft, and it fit his so neatly.

"Hey, where are you going? This isn't the way to the high school!"

"We're taking a different route," explained Kirino. "There aren't a lot of people that go this way, so we won't have to hide the way we feel about each other."

"Are you sure?" Kyousuke looked around, true, there were no other around them. But it would only took one person to start a rumor and ruin things for them.

"Of course I'm sure," answered Kirino. "Now shut up and enjoy this." She let go of his hand and this time wrapped her arms around his left arm tightly.

He blushed even deeper. Even though he was still nervous about other people seeing them, he knew it would be easier to just give in to her. "Okay." After a few moments, maing sure there was no one nearby, he neared his face to hers and spoke.

"I love you."

Now Kirino's face turned red. "I love you too," she replied sincerely.

"Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Oh, nothing." Kirino smiled mischievously, "I just wanted you to come with me without arguing."

"Y-you, don't you remember we have to keep this a secret?! Walking to school together is fine, but we have to be careful! In fact, you probably shouldn't be doing this." He gestured over to his arm, which Kirino was eagerly holding on to.

Kirino sighed but didn't let go of his arm. "I know, but . . . I just want you with me right now, okay?"

"Look, I'm already walking with you to school. Just walk side by side with me until then."

"Fine." Kirino pouted as she released his arm. "It's not like I was going to hold onto you like that for that long anyway. That's probably what you really wanted, isn't it you siscon?"

She didn't even really know why she called him that, Kyousuke was in love with her, so what did it matter? A force of habit, she guessed.

"Sure," said Kyousuke. "Now come on."

"Wait."

Kirino looked around carefully before turning her eyes toward Kyousuke. "Come here," she motioned. When he got close enough, she reached behind him and pulled his head down. Briefly kissing him.

"Wha-what the ! Did you just- that was too dangerous!" Kyousuke frantically scanned around just in case there were any witnesses. He sighed in relief to find that there was nobody else. "We really can't-

"Shut up. If I can't do something as little as hold your arm, I'll do that instead." Kirino turned around, her sudden courage leaving her. "Now follow me."

After a few minutes of silence, Kirino managed to regain some control over her emotions. She looked back on their conversation last night and smiled.

"Thank you," she said softly. "For agreeing to try again, and for dealing with my selfishness. I know I'm not the easiest or nicest person to deal with."

"Well, maybe."

 _'Maybe? What kind of boyfriend are you?'_ thought Kirino. _'You're supposed to disagree with me and say "no no, that's not true at all" . . . even if it is,'_ she added remorsefully.

"But I love you regardless, so don't worry about it," added Kyousuke.

"G-good then." Kirino felt her face heat up as her heart started racing. When they reached the gate, she turned to Kyousuke. "This is close enough, I'll see you at home later, right?" she asked expectantly.

"Sure," assured Kyousuke. "Bye." He waved before going on his way back home.

"Was that . . . Onii-san?" someone asked behind Kirino.

Kirino turned around, it was her black-haired friend Ayase. She seemed nervous, but also . . . wistful in a way. "Yeah, remember? I told you that he's back home for a visit," she answered.

"Ah, right." Ayase nodded.

"Is something wrong?" asked Kirino. "Why are you looking at my brother like that?"

"N-no reason!" Ayase lied, she hated doing so, but she had to. She didn't want to share how she still felt about Kirino's brother.

Kirino narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Really?"

"Y-yes!"

Kirino sighed in disappointment. "Ayase, I thought you hated lies."

"I do," she answered guiltily.

"Well then, why are you lying to me? Come on, we're friends, you can tell me anything." _'Besides,'_ added Kirino, _'it's not fair how you overreact when someone else lies to you.'_

"I . . . I'm sorry Kirino, you're right." Ayase took a deep breath. "The truth is . . . I'm in love with your brother."

 _'What? Not you too! Damn it, why does he have to attract all these girls?!'_

"But I thought you hated him!" Kirino yelled, but she didn't care. Now that she had Kyousuke back, she wouldn't lose him to anyone. "Isn't that why you didn't even talk to him after you took care of him for a month?"

"No, I avoided him because he rejected me," said Ayase shamefully. The memory still brought her pain.

"What did he say after you confessed to him?" Kyousuke had never told her about this! What the hell was wrong with that idiot?!

"He-he said that there was someone else he loved."

That made Kirino stop in her tracks. ". . . oh." It took a moment for her to realize that Kyousuke must have meant _her._ The thought made her giddy. Ayase was a cute, smart, and kind girl. Not to mention that a relationship with her wasn't taboo. But even though Ayase had confessedher feelings to him, Kyousuke had still chosen Kirino.

Her,his own sister who had pretended to be disgusted by him for the past few years. Who he had to hide his love for.

"Kirino, how come you're smiling like that?" asked Ayase.

Kirino wiped the ecstatic grin off of her face and got mad at herself for doing something that would reveal her feelings so obviously. "I'm just glad that he rejected you," replied Kirino. Then, realizing how Ayase would take it continued, "I mean, you'd be wasted on a guy like him! Seriously, you need better taste in men! My brother, that idiotic pervert? Come on, you can do way better than him!"

Ayase's cheeks flushed as she felt the need to defend Kyousuke. "Kirino, I know you don't exactly look up to your brother, but he's not as bad as you think. He's really kind in fact. Especially to you, I mean, he's willing to drag other people's opinion of him through the dirt for you. Like when he lied about being a pervert who was in love with his sister, just so he could get us to make up!

"And not only that, I saw how he studied so hard for the exams to get back home! He's amazing when he actually tries, and you're the one who he tries the most for! After all he's done for you, Kirino, don't you think he deserves some kindness from you by now?" Ayase blushed, then looked away, embarrassed by her sudden outburst.

"I-I guess." Kirino was surprised by how passionate Ayase was, and she started to wonder:

' _If Ayase had confessed to Kyousuke sooner, would he still have rejected her and fallen for me?'_

Ayase obviously felt strongly about him too, and she brought up a good point, Kyousuke _did_ deserve to be treated better. Which he hadn't gotten much of from Kirino. But Kirino didn't need Ayase to tell her to be kind to him, she'd do that on her own.

After all, Kyousuke had agreed to try their relationship again; Kirino doubted that she could ever fully show how grateful she was to him for that. Especially since she could tell that he still had some doubts, but he was willing to go along with her selfish desires once more.

"Anyway, let's go. We're going to be late otherwise," said Kirino in a subdued voice. She walked to her classroom with Ayase, thinking about all the times Kyousuke had gone out of his way for her.

' _When have I ever done something like that for him?'_ Kirino wondered, and sadly realized that she couldn't think of anything.

* * *

Kyousuke walked back home quickly. _'That could have been awkward.'_ He was sure that had been Ayase who'd appeared just before he'd turned around. He hadn't seen her since the day she'd confessed to him. He didn't want to think about how weird it would have been to try to talk to her normally, not to mention the fact that Kirino had been there as well. She had no idea about Ayase's confession, and Kyousuke wanted to keep it that way. Their new relationship was very fragile, and he didn't want her to think that dating one of her friends was an option for him.

It was strange, the way Kirino was acting. She had really surprised him last night. His insistent, confident little sister had been so desperate and upset that he'd had to do something to comfort her. Even break their promise. Which, to be honest, he wasn't sure he could have kept for much longer anyway.

He entered the house, and gave his habitual greeting. "I'm home."

No reply, so he was by himself. Well, that would be nice, a relaxing day all by himself. He yawned, maybe he'd catch up on some sleep first, since he hadn't really been able to last night.

He took off his shoes and walked upstairs to his bedroom. He practically collapsed into his bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

. . .

*ring ring*

Kyousuke's phone started ringing, which quickly woke him up. He got up and brought his phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Kyou-chan? It's me, Manami."

"Oh, hey Manami. What's going on?" he asked.

"Well, I was wondering . . . since I've been trying to make some sweets, could you come over so I could get your opinion on them? And, umm, I thought that we could also just hang out and eat lunch together too, if you don't mind."

"Sure, when should I get there?" asked Kyousuke.

"Oh, umm, whenever it's convenient for you," answered Manami. "I'll just be waiting."

"Alright, I'll be there soon, bye." Even if he wasn't sure what time it was, he didn't want to make her wait for long.

"Bye."

Kyousuke hung up the phone and looked at the time, it was 10:52, so he'd slept for a couple of hours. That had been a good nap, now he felt completely refreshed.

* * *

"Thanks, that was a great lunch. You always have been good at cooking," Kyousuke said to Manami.

"Well, I guess so." Manami's face reddened in embarrassment.

The two of them were in the park. Since it had been a bit . . . difficult to have serious conversations when Manami's grandparents were bothering them. Keeping up their routine of trying to bring them together. It was much more relaxing and calm here, like the old days, when they'd spend everyday just talking and hanging out as normal friends.

Which was certainly a nice change of pace from the hectic interactions Kyousuke would usually have with Kirino. Although it wasn't as if those moments actually bothered him. In fact, they could be fun in their own way, but he'd missed times like these too.

"Though, one of the main reasons why I got so good at cooking was because I thought of how great it would be to cook for my future husband on a daily basis," added Manami.

"Ah," he answered awkwardly. What else could he say to that? He got the hint, it wasn't like he was a total idiot. "So, um, hey look it's some ducklings!" Kyousuke pointed at several ducklings following their mother. _'Was this really the best thing I could come up with?'_ he thought disappointedly.

"Oh, how cute!" Manami walked over to them. Leaving Kyousuke surprised by the fact that he'd managed to escape an awkward situation in such a ridiculous way.

After she was done looking at them, they decided to continue walking around the park and talk. Since they'd come here often when they were younger, most of their conversations were just of them reminiscing about their childhood here. It was all so comfortable and familiar to Kyousuke. The trees all around them, he saw the one that he'd climbed to the top of when he was . . . how old? Seven? And the playground over to the right, he'd played there often with Manami for hours.

Kyousuke started to remember something. _'What was it?'_ he wondered. He wasn't sure, but he knew it was something important.

"Ohh!" he said out loud after a few moments of concentration. That was right! Kirino had played with him here too. Before their cold war.

"Kyou-chan? What is it?" asked Manami, a bit confused by his abrupt shout.

"Sorry," answered Kyousuke. "It's nothing."

He started to remember one incident in particular. He and Kirino had been in the park by themselves, he must have been around ten years old, which meant she'd only been seven. They'd been playing tag, she'd been chasing him and he'd been easily avoiding her. It had gotten obvious pretty quickly that she wasn't going to catch him, but she'd still tried anyway. Even then she'd been stubborn, she'd even told him that he couldn't let her win, that she'd catch him all on her own. Now, she could probably do so easily.

He smiled as he remembered her determined expression, it was still the same. Those bright, dedicated eyes and that excited smile. He loved her so much.

After a while, Kirino had still been chasing him, although rather slowly as a result of the effort she'd expended. Even though she'd been hardly more than walking, she'd tripped and skinned her knee. After that, Kyousuke had immediately ended the game and rushed over to her. She'd tried to hide her tears and claim that it wasn't that bad, but he'd ignored all that, deciding to pick her up on his back and go home to get a Band-Aid for it.

That night, she'd treated him like he was a superhero. Telling him with vibrant, admiring eyes how fast and strong he'd been, and how lucky she was to have such an amazing older brother.

Kyousuke chuckled a bit. There was no way Kirino would do anything like that now. She was the amazing one, and she knew it. To her, he was now the stupid, perverted older brother. But still the one she loved, so their roles really had been reversed, now he was the lucky one.

"Is something funny?" asked Manami. Kyousuke was acting a bit weird right now, it was like he was off in his own world. Which bothered her, whenever they'd spent time together before, he'd always been in the moment. It was embarrassing, but she . . . she wanted his attention.

"Just thinking," replied Kyousuke. "Sorry, again." And he truly was, he hadn't meant to space out like that. Maybe thinking of happy memories with Kirino made him more of an idiot than usual.

"It's fine." Manami noticed how his smile had faded when he'd been brought back to reality.

Kyousuke looked over at her, if her expression was any sign, it wasn't fine. He had no idea what kind of expression he'd had when he'd blanked out, but it seemed like it had troubled Manami. What could he say to explain? That he was thinking of Kirino? That wouldn't be a good idea, to say the least. But what then?

Before he could say anything, Manami spoke up again. "You're leaving tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah."

"Before you go, can you tell me . . . is there something wrong with me?"

Kyousuke halted. "What do you mean? Why would there be anything wrong with you?" he asked, confused.

"I mean," Manami's face flushed red.

' _What stopped you from falling in love with me?'_ she wanted to ask so badly. _'Even without Kirino, you probably wouldn't think of me that way at all. Why? What's wrong with me?'_

But she decided against it. It would ruin the moment, Kyousuke would just feel guilty and do his best to make her feel better, and she knew that nothing he would try would work, because he was in love with someone else.

"Never mind, it's nothing," lied Manami. "Don't worry about it."

"Oh, alright then." answered Kyousuke as if he'd understood. While in truth he had no idea what was going on with her. "Well, I'll answer you anyway. There's nothing wrong with you Manami. You've always been a great friend."

' _A great friend, huh . . .'_

"You too, Kyou-chan," she replied sincerely. As they continued walking and idly chatting, Manami realized something about their friendship, this was the furthest their relationship could possibly go.

' _And I'll have to be fine with that.'_

But this time, the thought didn't make her as sad as it once did. She still felt the same way for Kyousuke as she always had, but now she'd fully accepted that he would never return her feelings. It still made her feel horrible, even so . . . she managed to find some joy in the fact that he would still be her friend, that she hadn't completely pushed him away after what she'd said after he'd told her how he'd felt about Kirino.

* * *

"Hey, Ayase!" Kanako called out to her friend. "Do you want to . . ."

Kanako sat down at a desk next to Ayase, seeing her upset expression. What was going on?

"Hey," she said, getting Ayase's attention. "What's wrong?" Kanako wondered what could possibly be bothering her and reached a conclusion. "Did you and Kirino have a fight or something?"

"Huh?" asked Ayase innocently. "Why would you think that?"

"Come on." Kanako wasn't fooled at all. "Kirino's been avoiding you all day, and you're acting all depressed because of it. Why's she upset with you?"

"Well . . . I might have said something that might have upset her," admitted Ayase.

This was interesting. "Really? What?" asked Kanako curiously.

"I-I can't tell you!" Ayase blushed. "It's too embarrassing," she mumbled.

"Come on, that's not fair!" cried Kanako. "I'm just as much your friend as Kirino!"

"I'm sorry, but-

"You know," interrupted Kanko mischievously. "If you won't tell me, then I'll just ask Kirino."

"Okay! Okay!" Ayase sighed in defeat. "I-I told Kirino that I like *murmur *murmur*.

"What was that? Who do you like? Speak up!"

"Okay, I will! Just be quiet!" Ayase was mortified, Kanako was way too loud. Ayase waited until everyone shifted their attention away from them. "I like . . . Onii-san."

"You too?" Kanako tsked in annoyance. Just how many girls were attracted to him?

"Kanako, what do you mean by that?" asked Ayase, confused by her response. "Do you . . . feel the same way about him?"

"Yeah, but he rejected me," Kanako answered casually. "But good luck anyway. He told me that he was in love with someone else."

"He already rejected me too," admitted Ayase. Kanako felt a strange sort of connection with her friend, being rejected by the same guy.

"Anyway, why would you liking Kyousuke bother Kirino?"

"Well . . . she is really close to him," answered Ayase. "And I know that she doesn't want him to date anybody yet. But still, even though I promised her that he wasn't interested in me, she's been cold to me." Ayase looked over at Kirino, who was a few desks in front of her talking to some other girls.

Kanako followed her gaze. "Seriously? How selfish of her," she said, amused by how Kirino felt so strongly for her brother, but acted so unfriendly to him at times. Kanako smiled and grabbed Ayase by the wrist. "Come on, let's go see if I can't force you guys to make up!"

"Wait! Wait!" Ayase didn't have much of a chance to respond before being pulled towards Kirino.

Kirino saw two of her best friends coming towards her. Even though she wasn't feeling especially friendly to Ayase right now, Kirino still decided to excuse herself from the girls she was talking to and go towards Kanako and Ayase. "Kanako, what are you doing?" she asked

Kanako stopped in front of Kirino and asked her directly. "What's wrong with Ayase liking Kyousuke?"

Luckily, she said it quietly enough that only the three of them would hear. Kanako didn't even want to think about what Ayase would have done to her if she'd said it out loud.

"Wh-what? Nothing." Kirino lied and grit her teeth. What else could she say? That she was mad at Ayase for betraying her? It wasn't like Ayase had actually done anything wrong, and Kirino knew that feeling as if she had was stupid. But she couldn't help it. Kyousuke . . . she wouldn't let anyone else have him, especially not now, they were finally dating again.

Kanako sighed in annoyance. "Really? Then why have you been so cold to Ayase?"

"I just have," answered Kirino unconvincingly. She wanted to avoid this conversation as much as possible.

Kanako snorted in disbelief. "Yeah that makes sense." Her voice was dripping in sarcasm. "'I just have', who do you think you're fooling?"

"Whatever!" Kirino responded, irritated. "I don't have to explain myself to you! Leave me alone!" She sat down back at her desk with an annoyed huff.

"That girl," Kanako muttered under her breath. "There's no point talking to her when she's angry like that. Sorry Ayase, I probably could have handled that better."

Ayase shook her head. "No, it's alright. Kirino wasn't acting like herself either, I guess she really doesn't like the idea of me liking Onii-san. I'll just wait for her to calm down and talk to her by myself."

Kanako shrugged. "Well . . . good luck with that, I guess."

"Thanks." Ayase sat down and began to wait until she felt that Kirino would be comfortable to talk with her again.

It took a lot longer for Kirino to calm down than Ayase had thought it would. After a few minutes of watching her, Ayase started to wonder more deeply about why Kirino would be so upset. Kirino had mentioned a few times before that Kyousuke had moved away for college, and thinking back, Ayase had noticed the shift in her mood that had appeared then.

It hadn't been very obvious, to everyone else Kirino probably seemed like her usual amazing self, but Ayase had noticed the small, subtle behaviors. Sometimes Kirino would look at her phone longingly, and when Ayase had peeked at it once the screen had shown Kyousuke's contact information. Another time, it had been a picture of the two of them. Kirino was probably too embarrassed to call her brother just because she missed him. In fact, Ayase believed that not that long ago, Kirino wouldn't have even been able to admit feeling that way to herself.

Ayase remembered how Kirino had been when she'd said that her "idiot brother" was coming back home for a visit. The change in her mood had been obvious, Ayase only had to look at the bright smile on her face to see it. Yes, it was obvious how close Kirino was with her brother.

' _How could I have been so stupid?'_ thought Ayase. Kirino had wanted to be the most important person in Onii-san's eyes, Ayase guessed that she still did.

' _It is a little selfish though.'_ But what did it matter to Ayase really? If Onii-san had returned her feelings, perhaps she'd have much stronger feelings about it. He didn't though, so the way Kirino felt about Ayase liking him didn't really make a huge difference. Except in the way Kirino was treating her now.

She had to try one more time. Go up to Kirino, and promise her from the bottom of her heart that she wouldn't try to take her brother away. That Ayase wouldn't try to take her place as the person he most treasured. Eventually, when Onii-san found the one he loved, he'd have to help Kirino deal with this. But that was between the two of them.

However, Kirino still looked annoyed. Maybe she should wait until school was over. Until then, Ayase decided to monitor Kirino's mood. Kirino had seemed to calm down about an hour before dismissal. But for some strange reason she'd kept looking at the clock and frowning impatiently.

Did Kirino need to go somewhere? If so, Ayase would have to talk to her quickly to avoid bothering her further.

. . .

School was over, now was the time to go and reassure Kirino.

Ayase caught up to Kirino just before she left the gate. That had been close, Kirino had been walking as quickly as possible, practically jogging. _'Where does she need to go?'_

"What is it Ayase?" Kirino was making no effort to hide her impatience.

"Wait, before you go, I know why you were so upset when I said I liked Onii-san."

Kirino's heart froze. Did Ayase know about her and Kyousuke's relationship? Oh no, what was she going to do? Damn it, maybe she should have listened to him about being more careful.

"You still don't want Onii-san to date anyone else, right?" asked Ayase, certain she'd gotten it right.

Kirino sighed in relief, so Ayase still didn't know. "Right."

"I promise, I won't try to chase after him," Ayase swore. "You don't need to worry about that anyway, he likes someone else. But . . . Kirino, please don't try to stop him from being with the one he loves. If it bothers you that much, I'll be here for you." Ayase brought her hand to her chest earnestly, to prove that she'd support her friend when the time came.

"Thank you." Kirino bowed slightly to show her gratitude. "Really, really, thank you." Ayase would have no idea how much that meant to her, not pursuing Kyousuke even though she wanted to.

And all because she believed that it was so Kirino would maintain her relationship with him as a brother.

"I don't deserve a friend like you."

"It's-it's fine," Ayase waved off Kirino's last remark. "Umm . . . so you need to go somewhere, don't you?"

Kirino nodded. "Yeah."

"Is it something important?"

"Well . . . it's just something I've been looking forward to," admitted Kirino shyly.

"I see, I should probably get out of the way then." Ayase moved to the side to let Kirino go.

"Yeah." Kirino walked forward a few steps, but then turned to Ayase. "Seriously, thank you," she said sincerely, and walked off excitedly to meet with Kyousuke.

 **Author's Note:**

 **The next chapter will be up in two or three weeks.**

 **Thanks for reading and please leave a Review!**


	3. Chapter 3: Last Night Together

**Huge thanks to thatguywhowrote for beta-reading this chapter, and the last one. Without him, neither chapter would be as amazing.**

Chapter 3: Last Night Together

"I'm home." Kirino walked inside her house, took off her shoes and put them in the rack.

Kyousuke heard her and went in the hallway through the living room door. "Oh, welcome back Kirino," he said with a smile. "How was school?"

"Pretty much the same as usual," answered Kirino, she frowned. "Although you almost ruined it."

"Me?"

"Yes, you." She pointed at him. "You have some explaining to do."

Kyousuke honestly had no idea what was going on. How could he have nearly ruined Kirino's day when he hadn't even been with her for most of it? "What are you talking about?"

Kirino ignored his question and went up the stairs. "I'll be in the living room in a few minutes, and you better be there," she ordered. "I'm going to change out of this uniform, so don't even think about following me," she added with a glare.

Kyousuke stopped his foot just in time before it reached the first step. "Okay," he obeyed.

He could wait for an explanation for what she'd said. Besides, if he immediately went after her, she'd probably just start launching "sis-cons" and "Die, pervert!" and other slander at him.

Kyousuke walked over to the couch and sat down. _'Nothing much has changed,'_ he thought fondly. He still obeyed Kirino's orders, which she had no lack of. It was good to see that their new relationship hadn't completely messed with their interactions.

Now, what could Kirino have meant by saying that he'd almost ruined her day at school? The closest he'd gotten to her school was when he'd dropped her off at the front gate. What could he have done? The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. He couldn't think of anything, was she just being unreasonable? _'Wait . . . Ayase had been there, could Kirino have found out about-_

"Alright, it's time for you to talk," Kirino interrupted his line of thought as she walked through the door.

Kyousuke face reddened as he saw her. "Wh-what are you wearing?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kirino put her hands on her sides, cocked her hips to the left and looked down at herself. "What's wrong with this?"

Kirino had changed into some _short_ shorts, and a white sleeveless tank top. Her outfit showed a fair amount of skin, but it wasn't anything indecent. In fact, Kyousuke had seen her wear similar clothes many times before. Yet it was . . . different now for some reason. He didn't know why but he couldn't help reacting embarrassed and flustered.

"N-nothing's wrong." He gulped and looked away nervously.

Kirino narrowed her eyes in suspicion, then sighed. "Whatever." She went right up to him and pointed a finger at his face. "You . . . why didn't you tell me that Ayase had confessed to you?"

So Kirino had found out, why had this happened? Kyousuke would have preferred anything else. They'd just gotten back together and there was already drama about other girls? Why couldn't he just have a peaceful relationship with Kirino?

Well, there was no point in lying, Kyousuke took a deep breath and explained, "Because I thought that she'd tell you when she was ready, and I didn't want to make you feel like I'd just put you off to the side after we'd ended our relationship last time."

Kirino's anger subsided at the unexpected answer. The whole day she'd been afraid to hear Kyousuke's reasoning for hiding Ayase's confession from her, and she'd started thinking that his feelings might have changed. "Really?" she asked timidly.

"Of course!" Kyousuke assured her. "Ayase's cute and all, but she doesn't compare to you at all!"

Kirino blushed in embarrassment at the compliment. "You really weren't trying to get with her without me knowing?"

"I'd never do that," answered Kyousuke sincerely. "Last time, I was happy just being with you. Did you think I could get over my feelings so quickly? Or that I'd find another girl?"

"I don't know," replied Kirino. She sat down on the couch and leaned on his shoulder. ". . . Three months wasn't really a long enough time to really get to know you as a boyfriend. I was so afraid that-that you would find another girl after me."

"As if I could," he said. "I only love you Kirino."

She smiled happily at his response, then she remembered what Kyousuke had said during dinner last night. "What about that Fuyumi girl?"

"Huh? How do you know about her?"

Kirino sighed. "You talked about her last night, stupid. What's going on with her?" She trembled slightly, afraid to hear the answer. She hoped that he couldn't tell how nervous she was.

"Oh that's right." Kyousuke remembered how he'd casually mentioned the name during dinner. "She's a friend from college. I just told mom about her so she wouldn't tease me about getting a girlfriend. No need to worry."

"Good," said Kirino, satisfied with his answer. "Remember, I'm your girlfriend now, so you better get rid of whatever thoughts you have about other girls."

"Yeah, yeah," he replied nonchalantly with a smile.

Kirino looked at Kyousuke directly in the eyes. "I'm serious, when you're away you better not even _think_ about cheating on me. In fact, remove the word 'cheating' from your head, right now," she demanded.

Kyousuke laughed at her ridiculous statement, then even harder at her surprised expression. She was so cute! Even before he'd fallen in love with her, her cuteness had always been his one weakness, but her jealousy was adorable on a whole different level.

Kyousuke acted on an impulse and kissed her.

Shocked, Kirino pulled back. "Wh-what are you doing?!"

"I'm kissing you," he said, confused. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Don't do it so suddenly like that!"

"What? That's how you kissed me this morning . . . and last night!" he argued.

"That's different, it's cute when a girl does it," she said. "When a guy kisses a girl without warning, he's just an aggressive pervert."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Shut up! Just accept it!"

Kyousuke stared at her quizzically for a few seconds. "Fine," he yielded.

"Hmph, liar, you're just saying that. Let me show you." Kirino immediately kissed him. When she pulled back, Kyousuke blinked several times and his face was a deep shade of red.

"M-maybe you do have a point," he admitted.

Kirino smiled mischievously. "See?"

She pushed him onto his back and brought her lips to his again. It was so warm and comfortable in his arms; she hadn't experienced it that much, since their previous relationship hadn't been very physical.

She knew that Kyousuke had probably wanted it to be- he was a boy after all. But she'd been too nervous to start anything. Yet, regardless of his own desires, he'd never tried to coerce her into doing things like this for him. She loved him even more for that, letting her go into the relationship at her own pace, even though they'd had a limited amount of time.

"Kirino," whispered Kyousuke. He looked into her eyes, surprised by the passion Kirino put in her kisses.

"Kyousuke . . . d-do you want to . . ." her voice trailed off as she looked to the side.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

"I-I don't want to say it, it's too embarrassing," she said. "But, you know what I mean. If you want to, I'll do it for you." Kirino didn't really know what answer she was hoping for, but whatever he wanted, she'd go with it. Thankfully, she could tell by the look on his face that he knew what she meant, so she wouldn't have to say it out loud.

Sex.

The thought of doing it with Kyousuke was frightening. What if he thought her body looked weird? Or if she did something wrong? Or if she couldn't make him feel good? It was embarrassing, but during her weaker moments, she had sometimes fantasized about doing it with him. Until yesterday, when she'd went to his room and restarted their relationship, she'd always thought they'd stay fantasies.

Kirino wasn't even sure if she was ready, she was so nervous from just implying it. Her heart was pounding, her face felt unbelievably hot, and she could barely look at Kyousuke in the eye. But she had to prepare herself. The thought of Kyousuke doing it with another girl depressed and infuriated her more than she could say. She'd be the number one girl in his life! She loved him, and no one else would take him from her!

"W-well?" she stammered, but managed to regain some courage. "Do you want to or not?"

"I . . ." Kyousuke wasn't prepared at all for this moment! What the heck?! Why would Kirino just ask him for-for _that_ now?!

"You don't want to?" Kirino looked heartbroken.

"Th-that's not true!" He immediately said. "I-

Kyousuke suddenly realized why Kirino was suggesting this. Damn it, she didn't need to force herself just to make some sort of-of _claim_ on him. But he'd address that later, right now, he needed to talk to her about this relationship, before it became any more painful to decide on what to do about it. He might have already waited too long to bring it up.

"Kirino, this doesn't mean no, but I need to talk to you about something else important first. Will you hear me out?"

"Okay." Kirino nodded. He hadn't said no, so he did want to do things like that with her. But what did he want to talk about?

He took a deep breath. "Are you really sure you want our relationship to continue? I'm not going to be here a lot of the time, and even when we're together, we'll have to be careful to hide it from everyone. Even from our closest friends."

"I knew all that already," answered Kirino after a few seconds. "I know that we can't do things that a normal couple could, and that I'll miss you when you're at college."

Kirino hugged him tightly, laying her head on his chest, completely unwilling to let him go. "But this is what I want, I want to be your girlfriend again. I want to be the one you love the most, and I want to show you how much I love you."

' _Even if it is hard at times to be honest with myself,'_ she reflected. She was managing now though, she needed to, there was so little time with him. He'd be leaving tomorrow, and who knew when he'd be back?

"What are we going to do Kirino?" Kyousuke was asking himself just as much as he was with her. "Will we really be fine just seeing each other every few weeks? What if one of us finds another person and we end up hurting each other?"

"I would never do that!" claimed Kirino fiercely. "I'm fine with waiting, I've felt this way about you for years, and you had abandoned me then! I'm not going to find another guy if you happen to leave for a few weeks."

She paused, then continued in a soft voice. "If you just want this relationship to be over, then say so."

"That's not what I want at all." Kyousuke patted her head. "I just needed to make sure that you knew what our relationship would be like and that you'd still want it."

He paused for a bit. "Instead, I kept thinking about the problems that would come up and worrying about them. But we'll deal with them when we get there, because we love each other!" he added with determination in his eyes.

"Right." Kirino was relieved. She'd thought that she might have been forcing him to do this when he didn't want to, but it seemed that she was proven wrong.

"Now, about doing _that_ ," said Kyousuke, going back to the previous subject. "You don't need to force yourself if you're not ready. Don't worry, I'll stay loyal to you. So just wait a bit alright?"

"Okay," she answered. This was probably for the best, if Kyousuke had said yes, she probably would have freaked out and ruined the experience for both of them. He was right, Kyousuke loved her, she could trust him, couldn't she?

Kirino smirked. "We're still going to do lots of other things before then, okay?" she said before placing her lips on his again.

* * *

God . . . what in the world had she done? She'd completely lost track of time when she and Kyousuke had been on the couch. What did he think of her?

 _'Well, he should be happy!'_ Kirino thought. It was so embarrassing though, she had really missed him, and they'd spent so long making out that she'd started making strange sounds. She didn't want to remember, but she'd probably squealed a few times and maybe moaned. It wasn't completely her fault though! He had been the one touching her in different places.

It had almost been a good thing when their parents had come home; she and Kyousuke had separated immediately. Even now, hours after they'd stopped, she could still feel a tingling sensation in her lips, and the places where Kyousuke's hands had wandered. He hadn't done anything perverted, but . . . even places like her face or her back felt weird.

If it was this difficult to deal with the aftereffects of some passionate kissing, how on Earth could she have faced him if they'd done _it?_ God, she was so stupid. Kyousuke had been right, she needed to be more mature before she even thought about . . . about . . .

' _Oh for God's sake, sex!'_ Kirino thought frustratingly. She needed to at least get used to thinking the word in her head if it would ever become a reality.

Kirino turned on her computer, ready to start up another eroge or shop for more otaku merchandise. Anything to keep her mind distracted.

' _What was this, a message from Kuroneko?'_ Kirino opened it and started reading.

 _ **Hey, respond already. We still need to go over our plans for tomorrow. Saori and I will be in the chatroom, so hurry up.**_

Kirino smacked herself in the forehead. _'I totally forgot!'_ The three of them were supposed to plan a surprise for Kyousuke tomorrow. She went to the website and saw that the girls were still online.

Kirino started typing immediately. _**Sorry, I was a bit busy.**_

Kuroneko replied first. _**Geez, can't you keep track of time? You know, it's rude to keep people waiting.**_

Kirino frowned, she wasn't that late. It was only about twenty minutes later than the time they'd decided on. Besides, Kuroneko's message had only arrived about five minutes ago. _**Well, I'm here now. So stop complaining and let's start.**_

 _ **Very well, Kiririn-shi.**_ Saori answered, for some strange reason she insisted on calling everyone by their handle name when they were online. _**I'm surprised though, are you really sure you want to do this?**_

 _ **I find it mildly shocking as well,**_ saidKuroneko. _**The last time we did anything similar, you immediately backed out on your role.**_

Kirino tensed up at that, Kuroneko was talking about the time they'd dressed up as maids and held a thank-you party for Kyousuke. It had been so frustrating, watching the other girls flirt with him, and being unable to show how it really made her feel. She hadn't even given him a heartfelt apology or thanks until it had ended.

Kirino smiled at how he'd cried from it. Even back then, he'd still cared that much about her. When she'd treated him so harshly.

 _ **Things are different now,**_ wrote Kirino. _**I don't mind doing this for him. Besides, he deserves it. He's leaving tomorrow.**_

 _ **Are you sure he won't misinterpret these costumes?**_ asked Kuroneko. _**You two did date not that long ago, these might rekindle some passions between you two.**_

 _ **Yes, I was wondering about that as well,**_ Saori seconded.

 _ **No way! You guys know about our promise! He'll know better than to let that happen!**_ Kirino grinned, it hadn't been easy to come up with a cosplay design that would let Kyousuke know what she would be doing _and_ keep the other two from suspecting anything.

Kuroneko would be bringing them tomorrow after some minor adjustments. Although Kirino would never admit it to her, that girl really was amazingly skilled with sewing. It hadn't even taken her that long to make the outfits that Kirino had in mind for everyone.

 _ **So we should come over at around 4:30 tomorrow?**_ wondered Saori.

 _ **Yeah,**_ replied Kirino.

 _ **Are you sure that your brother won't be home then?**_ Kuroneko verified. _**We're going to need a decent amount of time to set everything up.**_

 _ **Don't worry, I have the perfect way to keep him out of the house,**_ replied Kirino. _**The earliest he could possibly get back is about 45 minutes later. My parents won't be back until a lot later.**_

 _ **We'll put our trust in you then,**_ said Saori.

 _ **Yes, please don't mess up.**_

Kirino clicked her tongue in annoyance, Kuroneko could be really irritating sometimes. She prepared to give a cheeky reply, but Kuroneko had already left. Saori followed suit a few seconds later.

Then, someone knocked on her door. A female voice called out, "Hey, Kirino? Do you mind if I come in?"

"No, not at all. Come on in mom."

Her mother walked in and looked at the computer. "So, what are you doing?"

"Nothing much, just chatting with my friends."

Yoshino relaxed, at least she hadn't walked in on her daughter playing those games. Even though she had accepted it, the bizarre hobby still puzzled her. Kirino was an amazing daughter that she was immensely proud of: she did well in school, had a modeling job, was a track athlete, and was apparently popular at school. So why would games and anime that were targeted towards single men be so fascinating to a teenage girl?

"Is there something you need help with mom?" asked Kirino politely.

"Not really, just checking in." Yoshino paused. "Actually, there is something I've been wondering, have you and Kyousuke made up already? Earlier at dinner, you didn't even glare at him once. In fact, you were rather friendly with him, while yesterday, you were quite mad at him."

"W-well, I just got him to apologize for being the idiot that he is," explained Kirino, hoping her mother wouldn't suspect anything.

"I see," Yoshino said understandingly. "You know, you and your brother had gotten really close before he moved out."

". . . I guess." Kirino shifted uncomfortably.

"Did you miss him?"

Yoshino noticed that her daughter had frozen up at her question. "Never mind," she said. "I already know the answer. Even though you try to hide it, I can tell. I am your mother after all."

"Wh-what are you talking about mom? I-

Yoshino signaled her to stop with her hand. Why did Kirino look so full of guilt? "Look, for some reason you have a hard time showing your true feelings."

Kirino fidgeted, looked like she'd hit the nail right on the head.

' _Maybe you inherited it from your father,'_ Yoshino wondered. "But whatever reason it is, I think you resent that part of yourself. So, want to talk about it?"

Yoshino sat down on Kirino's bed and patted the spot next to her. She smiled reassuringly as her daughter plopped down to her.

Reluctantly at first, Kirino began to talk about her childhood days with Kyousuke. Those had been very happy days for her. They'd played together, taken baths together, sometimes even slept in the same bed together. In fact, when she'd been scared as a child, rather than going to her parents' bed as other children would, Kirino would go to Kyousuke's room and sleep in with him. She'd looked up to him as an amazing older brother. He could run the fastest, was the smartest, and he always took on the world with confidence and enthusiasm.

Kirino began to open up further, remembering how he'd changed. He'd stopped running around the town with his usual excitement. Instead, he usually stayed inside, reading manga or watching TV. He started needing tutoring from Manami just to maintain average grades, when he'd once been the one helping her. In short, he'd stopped trying, saying that he wanted a normal life without any trouble.

In short, he'd grown stagnant.

Even though Kirino had been disappointed by the changes her brother had gone through, that hadn't been the worst of it. For years, Kyousuke had just abandoned her. Whenever they were home together, he just went on with his own life and completely ignored her. He hadn't come to any of her track meetings or modeling shoots. He hadn't supported her in any way. She'd done so much to show him that she'd caught up and outdone him, and he'd missed everything!

"It was like he didn't care about me at all!" Kirino yelled and slammed her fist on the bed.

"Hey, hey," Yoshino comforted her. "You know that isn't true."

"Yeah, and it's not like it was completely his fault," admitted Kirino in a low voice. "I also pushed him away, and-and treated him like I hated him. When I really just wanted him back."

Yoshino hugged her daughter. "It's alright, things are different now, right? You've regained your bond with your brother, and there's no need to hide how much you care about him either.

"Yeah, but I can't help it sometimes. I've been doing it for so long that I feel like I have to." Kirino looked down at the floor in regret. "But I don't want to anymore, I end up saying horrible things to him."

' _Like telling him he should die or laughing at him whenever he tried to be honest about his feelings.'_

"I know that he probably doesn't take it to heart," Kirino added. "But it bothers me a lot. Because if he said anything like that to me . . . I-I don't think I could take it."

It had hurt enough when Kyousuke had called her hobby weird, she didn't want to imagine how it would feel if he made fun of her or laughed at her feelings.

"I'm not sure exactly what you've said to him," said Yoshino. "So I can't just lie and tell you that he won't say anything similar back to you."

Yoshino smiled and put her hand over her daughter's. "I can promise you this though, Kyousuke would never intentionally hurt you. In fact, I think you're hurting yourself a lot more through this . . . difficulty of yours than Kyousuke ever could. It'll be alright though, okay?"

"Mhm."

It was strange, normally, Kirino would have been horrified by the thought of sharing such personal feelings with anyone, even her mother. Yet . . . it actually felt great to tell someone about how she'd felt all these years. It had helped a lot, actually, she was sure that she'd be able to start being a lot more honest with Kyousuke now.

Although, Kirino knew that she'd have to work on it a lot more. This conversation had helped, but she hadn't been able to say anything about how she _really_ felt about Kyousuke. It wasn't like she had any choice! She would have loved some advice on how to be a better lover to him rather than a sister, but it wasn't like she could ask her mother!

She couldn't ask Kyousuke either. _That_ would be way too embarrassing.

"Please don't tell Kyousuke about any of this," Kirino begged her mother.

"Ohhh . . . I don't know, just think of how happy he'd be to learn how you really feel about him," teased Yoshino.

"No!" she interjected, terrified by the thought.

"Alright, alright, calm down. You can tell him when you're ready, okay?" Yoshino got up and walked out the room. "Don't hesitate to talk to me again! I really enjoyed our heart-to-heart mother-daughter talk," she said before closing the door.

Kirino let out a breath of relief. Thankfully, her mother wasn't cruel. She laid back on her bed and yawned. She was worn out, she hadn't planned to give such an emotionally draining confession.

She couldn't sleep though, not just yet. She needed to put her plan into action. Kirino picked up her laptop and found the website she needed. She'd meant to do this earlier, but her mother had walked in. Well, there was no harm done, she'd just do it now.

* * *

Kyousuke walked out of the bathroom. "Ahhh, it really is refreshing to relax after a bath," he said to himself. He might read a bit or something, then get a good night's sleep.

He opened the door, only to find Kirino sitting on his bed with her laptop. She was wearing pink nightclothes and looked absolutely adorable. What was she doing in his room though?

"Oh, finally, you're here. Hey, come look at this!" Kirino pointed eagerly at the screen.

' _Well, there goes my chance of getting to relax for the rest of the night,'_ he reflected. Although, he had to admit that he didn't really mind.

He sat down next to her and looked at the laptop. "Kotsuba Games Selling One Hundred Copies of the Special Version of _My Summer with Hiruki_ ," he read aloud.

Kyousuke gave Kirino a confused look. "Why did you want to show me this?"

"I'm going to need you to go and get it for me tomorrow," she said.

"What? Why me?" he asked.

"Who else am I going to ask? Dad?" answered Kirino, looking at him like he was an idiot.

It really annoyed him whenever someone answered a question with a question. "That's not what I meant," he said calmly. "Why can't you go get it for yourself?"

"I can't, I promised Ayase and Kanako that I'd hang out with them," she lied. "It's not like I can abandon them," Kirino scrolled lower down the page, and motioned for Kyousuke to come closer. "Also, look. It says that they're only going to start selling them at 4:30."

Kirino pouted, unknowingly making Kyousuke smile at her cuteness. "It's not fair!" she complained. "They're obviously going to run out immediately! Why couldn't it have been some other day?"

"Can't you just order it online or something?" he suggested.

"No! These special versions are each going to have signatures from the voice actors. So they're totally unique," explained Kirino, going into complete otaku mode. She stood up, pointing a finger at him. "I need it and you are going to get it for me!"

"Okay, okay, I'll get it!" replied Kyousuke.

Kirino smiled and hugged him tightly. "Yay! You're the best brother ever! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Um . . . well, thanks." Kyousuke hugged her back and enjoyed it. It wasn't often when Kirino said anything like that.

Suddenly, Kirino kissed him. It was only a moment before he realized what was happening and responded. Man, Kirino really was different as a girlfriend.

"You're also the best boyfriend," she said. She started to trace his chest with her finger. "I think you deserve something special. Remember, there are lots of other things we can do before _that,_ " she whispered suggestively right into his ear.

Kyousuke couldn't respond. When had his sister become so . . . seductive?! _'Other things? Does she mean. . . things from her eroge?'_ His imagination started to run wild, what would she do?

Unexpectedly, Kirino started giggling. "It was a joke! A joke! And you took it seriously, look how red you are! What, you aren't satisfied with what we did earlier?" She teased him.

"Y-you . . . that's a cruel joke to play on a guy," he muttered.

"Sorry," Kirino said with an amused smile, which slowly turned into a smile of genuine happiness. "Seriously though, thank you. For doing this, and for everything else."

"Your welcome," he replied.

Kirino shut her laptop and put it off to the side. "I'll tell you the details for getting it tomorrow, for now, let's go to sleep." She crawled into his bed and looked back at Kyousuke, who stared at her in shock. "Well? Are you going to sleep or not?"

"We can't sleep in the same bed! What if mom or dad come in and see us?"

"Oh, calm down," Kirino motioned for him to lie down beside her. "We did this a few times before, and they didn't catch us."

"Still . . . we can't be too relaxed about this, what if-

"Pleeease?"

' _Damn it, it's not fair!'_ The way Kirino was looking at him, with that shy expression, puppy dog eyes,and cute red cheeks, it was hard to resist.

"You're leaving tomorrow, can we do this as a couple at least?"

That did it, Kyousuke relented. "Fine." He shut the light off and slid under the blanket next to her.

"Hold me," she said once he'd gotten in.

"O-okay." It took a few minutes for them to find a good position, but eventually they ended up with Kirino's head right under Kyousuke's chin. His face was half-buried in her hair, giving him a chance to take in her sweet scent. She smelled faintly of perfume and soap, but also something else. He wasn't sure how to describe it, to put in in words, she smelled like "Kirino".

Kyousuke's arms were wrapped around her, holding her close to him. The fact it would be a while before they did this again helped him calm his racing heart. Her back was touching his chest, and their feet were tangled together. They found such comfort in their embrace that they both started to think that it would be worth it even if one of their parents later found them like this.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who's followed and favorited. If it weren't for you guys I might have just given up on this fanfic after the first chapter.**

 **The next chapter will be out in a couple of weeks. Don't forget to leave a review!**


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